Chelmsford, Westford to create vets housing

By Grant Welker, gwelker@lowellsun.com

Updated:
02/20/2013 06:35:37 AM EST

CHELMSFORD -- The town will build eight new housing units for veterans, and Westford will create five, thanks to funding from both communities, the state Department of Housing and Community Development and other grants.

"It will be an amazing opportunity for both communities to come together and support our troops," said David Hedison, director of the Chelmsford Housing Authority, whose nonprofit arm, known as CHOICE, administers housing funds across the area.

The projects are both fully permitted, with construction expected to start this spring and be completed within about a year.

Westford has given $400,000 from its Community Preservation Committee, which uses surcharges on local property-tax bills, and $115,000 from its Affordable Housing Trust. The five Westford units, both one- and two-bedroom, will be built on Carlisle Road by the intersection with Acton Road, by renovating an existing building, the former Tara Hall.

Chelmsford's eight units will be built in a single building on a vacant lot at 9 Manahan St., off Chelmsford Street, west of the Kohl's plaza. Each unit will have a stove, private bathroom and living room, and the units will share a common kitchen. The town of Chelmsford contributed $408,000 to the project cost through Community Preservation Act funds.

At least 10 percent of Preservation Act funds must be spent on housing, and the veterans homes will help Chelmsford reach that threshold, Hedison said. It will not take any funds away from open-space or historic preservation projects.

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Other funding came from the state Department of Housing and Community Development, which contributed $1.7 million, and TD Bank, which gave a $100,000 grant.

Some additional state funds were also secured by designating the housing units as drug-, alcohol- and smoke-free.

The need for veteran housing in both towns is great, according to the Housing Authority and veterans agents.

Options for veterans in need of affordable housing who can't qualify for senior housing are "extremely limited," the authority said in an announcement of the program.

Approximately 4,500 veterans live in Chelmsford and Westford, a number expected to grow as more troops return from service in the coming years.

There is currently a wait of one to two years for a veteran with a local preference for subsidized housing, and a wait of three to five years for other veterans.

Westford's veterans services office is able to offer financial assistance for returning veterans seeking housing but because house prices are limited and costly in town, sometimes veterans have to move out of town, said Terry Stader, the town's veterans agent.

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